Matt Chipman - 2011 Kevin Higgins College Scholarship Grant Recipient

San Diego, CA (December 19, 2011) - You could say that Matt Chipman is a “Chipman off the old block” as his father, Del, was the starting wing in the very first test match the United States Eagles ever played, against Australia on January 31, 1976. After watching his first game Matt knew that he wanted to follow in his dad’s fleet footsteps.

Rugby has already had a big impact in Matt’s young life. The sport helped steer him to Jesuit High School, as that’s where a lot of his rugby playing friends matriculated to. Matt was an honors student at Jesuit, carrying a 3.7 GPA. He was the vice-president of Operation Smile, a group that raised money to get cleft pallet surgeries for children in Third World Countries. He was a member of the school’s STAR program, which entailed Jesuit students going to middle schools in the Sacramento area encouraging those students to attend Jesuit. He was also part of school organizations involved with the annual Coat and Food Drives, and school organized rallies and other school-wide functions.

Matt takes pride in giving back to the Sacramento community. Two of his most memorable experiences were working with the homeless of Sacramento at Loaves and Fishes, and also Mustard Seed, delivering food and care packages. Matt’s most recent community service project included raising money and doing a week-long service project at Nazareth Farm in West Virginia, a non-profit service based farm that assists rural communities.

On the rugby field, Matt was a member of multi-National Championship teams at Jesuit, including his senior year when the team finished undefeated while also winning the Sacramento Kick-Off Tournament and the California State Title.

Rugby has provided Matt the opportunity to see a lot of the United States through National Championships and All-Star competitions. He’s also played on foreign soil this summer as a member of the United States High School All-Americans on their tour to South Africa.

Rugby also helped Matt get into his first university of choice, Cal, where he knows he will “receive a top notch education.” Going from Jesuit to Cal, Matt is leaving one rugby powerhouse for another. His rugby team goals are to continue to help lead Cal to more National Collegiate Championship titles and a first ever National Collegiate Sevens championship. His individual rugby goals are to be selected for upcoming US Collegiate All-American teams and represent the United States, especially when rugby is reintroduced to the Olympic Games in 2016.

Matt’s career goals outside of rugby include pursuing a degree in business with a focus on economics. He is also interested in studying abroad, possibly at the London School of Economics or Oxford, while continuing to play rugby. Matt would like to stay close to his Northern California roots when all’s said and done, possibly finding work at Pixar.

Congratulations Matt on being named a 2011 Kevin Higgins College Scholarship recipient.